After a 3-1 win over Mississippi State to open the College World Series final, the UCLA baseball team can earn its first-ever national championship with 27 more outs.You wouldn’t know it by the celebration. The Bruins jogged toward the mound after the final groundout and exchanged a few handshakes and high fives.

“It’s one game,” coach John Savage said. “I told the team there’s not much to get excited about. We can enjoy this one for about half an hour, 45 minutes.”

Added closer David Berg, now alone in holding the NCAA single-season saves record: “All that matters is the next one. Gotta live in the present.

Can’t worry about the past. If we win a national title, I’ll enjoy that.”

UCLA (48-17) played to its strengths Monday at TD Ameritrade Park by riding Adam Plutko’s solid start and a superlative defense.

The right-handed starter, now 7-0 in career postseason games, allowed just four hits and struck out two. A flyball pitcher by trade, he used the cavernous stadium to his advantage and retired nine batters to start the game. He twice struck out Hunter Renfroe, the San Diego Padres’ first-round pick.

Plutko, selected in the 11 th round by the Cleveland Indians, did his job admirably in what likely was his last collegiate start — a performance blemished only by a bases-loaded walk and a balk,

What stood out was the Bruins’ fast offensive start. For the first time in the College World Series, UCLA scored a run in the first inning.

Kevin Kramer struck out swinging, but advanced to first when the pitch bounced in front of the plate and skidded past the catcher. UCLA quickly took advantage as right fielder Eric Filia — batting .467 in the postseason at the beginning of the day — drove a stand-up double to left field.

With runners on second and third, shortstop Pat Valaika singled into the gap in shallow center to give UCLA a 1-0 lead.

“I really wish that kid hadn’t swung at that pitch,” Mississippi State John Cohen said. “I mean, I’m not saying it to be a smart aleck, but that kid doesn’t swing at a pitch that lands in front of the plate,

“I think the ballgame could be different. I do.”

And as they do so often, the Bruins jumped all over the Bulldogs (51-19) on a crucial error. Brian Carroll reached first plate on a bunt when the throw flew slightly too high, a mistake that also advanced Brenton Allen to third.

Two at-bats later, Filia again came through, singling into right field to give his team a 3-0 lead.

It was more than enough. UCLA’s defense continued to make plays, including a leaping, fifth-inning catch by Filia that robbed catcher Nick Ammirati of an extra-base hit.

Berg entered in the eighth inning and became the first pitcher in NCAA history to make at least 50 appearances in multiple seasons.

Five outs later, he reached his loftier record: his 24 th save, passing Austin Peay’s Tyler Rogers (2013) and USC’s Jack Krawczyk (1998) for a spot alone in the record books.

Jack Wang covers the Chargers, the latest NFL team to relocate to Los Angeles. He previously covered the Rams, and also spent four years on the UCLA beat, a strange period in which the Bruins' football program often outpaced their basketball team. He is a proud graduate of UC Berkeley, where he spent most of his time in The Daily Californian offices in Eshleman Hall — a building that did not become earthquake-safe until after his time on campus.